PCC’s Board Meetings
Persian Cultural Center’s board of directors holds its meetings every second Wednesday of the month at the Iranian American Center (IAC). The last two meetings took place on March 13 and April 10, 2024.
Iranian School of San Diego’s 36th Nowruz Celebration – March 10, 2024
In preparation for Nowruz, the Iranian School of San Diego held a “sabzeh kari” and egg coloring event on Sunday, March 3, 2024, at the school. The Nowruz celebration was held at the Lewis Middle School auditorium on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Students performed several dances, a play, music, and songs for nearly 600 family members, friends, and staff. During the program, awards for Person of the Year, honors students, and winners of the “Reading Olympics” were presented.
Chaharshanbehsoori – March 12, 2024
PCC, in collaboration with AIAP and the House of Iran, was again able to celebrate Chaharshanbehsoori at NTC Park in Point Loma with music, dance, and plenty of food. This year, several thousand people attended the park for celebration and enjoyed music performed by DJ Julius, DJ Mohsen, and DJ Davood. A nice addition was Farnam, who joined the DJs onstage and performed several songs. Several businesses set up booths. Food was provided by Balboa International Market.
Nowruz Celebration at the Rancho Bernardo Library – March 14, 2024
The Rancho Bernardo City Library celebrated Nowruz on March 14 in collaboration with PCC. This program started with a performance by Bita Jahanbin, one of the students of the Iranian School of San Diego. At the end, the children did Nowruz-related handcrafts. The haft-seen table was prepared by Mercedeh Hashemi.
Persian Cultural Center’s Annual Nowruz Celebration – March 16, 2024
This year, PCC celebrated Nowruz at the La Jolla Marriott. At this great event, music was performed by Masour and DJ Julius. PCC’s Persian Dance Academy performed several beautiful dances. PCC was honored to have San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, San Diego City Councilmembers Raul Campillo and Ken Lee, San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Nora Vargas’s assistant Fernando Chavarria, the County Chief Administrative Officer Sarah Aghassi, and San Diego Chief of Police David Nisleit among the guests. The mayor congratulated the Iranian American community for upholding and celebrating its culture. Councilmember Campillo then read the proclamation prepared by the City of San Diego recognizing March 20 as Nowruz Day in the City of San Diego. The County of San Diego also presented a proclamation to PCC.
Nowruz Celebration at the Poway Library – March 27, 2024
In collaboration with PCC, the Poway Library celebrated Nowruz on March 27. This program started with a performance by Bita Jahanbin, one of the students of the Iranian School of San Diego. Then the guests enjoyed live music by Sina Gharavi and Mahmood Shamshiri. At the end, the audience took pictures with the haft-seen table, which was prepared by Mercedeh Hashemi.
Nowruz Celebration at the Escondido Library – March 30, 2024
The Escondido Public Library partnered with PCC to celebrate Nowruz on Saturday, March 30. The audience learned about Iran and Nowruz traditions. Live Persian music was performed by Ms. Niloufar Shiri and Mr. Milad Jahadi, along with a dance performance from the Iranian School of San Diego Dance Academy. The program ended with crafts, Amoo Nowruz, and refreshments.
Sizdahbedar – March 31, 2024
This event was unfortunately canceled due to stormy weather.
City of San Diego Library Branches Celebrating Nowruz – March 2024
For the entire month of March, PCC set up haft-seen and Iranian artifacts at the following City Library Branches: Carmel Valley, College-Rolando, La Jolla-Riford, Linda Vista, North University Community, Rancho Penasquitos, Pacific Beach-Taylor, and Rancho Bernardo.
From Lust to Loyalty, A Play – April 6, 2024
On the evening of Saturday, April 6, 2024, the audience at the Schulman Auditorium in Carlsbad witnessed a masterful performance by Banafsheh Taherian in a one-person show depicting the life story of Khosrow and Shireen by the eleventh century poet Nezami. For ninety minutes, Taherian portrayed all of the play’s characters, bringing to life one of the most famous love stories of Persian literature. The play was in Persian, but the text was simultaneously shown on the screen. The audience showed their appreciation with a very long standing ovation.
A Poet and a Poem – April 17, 2024
The twenty-ninth session of “A Poet and a Poem” took place on April 17. This virtual session featured the biography and poems of Jamalaldin Abdolrazzagh Esfahani, presented by the Poetry and Literature Group of San Diego. In addition, some of his poems were recited by ISSD students. Other poems were also recited by the attendees of the event.
Film & Discussion Series – April 26, 2024
The April program was dedicated to the film Bench Cinema, directed by Mohammad Rahmanian, produced in 2016. This film was screened at the Iranian American Center and was reviewed both in person and virtually in the second part of the program. The program host and moderator was Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian.
PCC Youth Committee Report – March/April 2024
During its monthly meeting at the Persian Cultural Center, the Youth committee prepared candy bags and helped prepare dance costumes for ISSD’s Nowruz event. Members volunteered at the Nowruz celebration on March 10 and assisted ISSD’s administration in various areas. On March 16, the Youth committee was at the Marriott Hotel from 2 PM to Midnight to assist with the PCC Nowruz Gala. The toys collected during March’s toy drive were distributed to Afghan children, bringing big smiles to their faces for the Nowruz holidays.
The Youth committee also assisted Moms Against Poverty (MAP, a charity organization) during their Nowruz Fundraising Event.
The PCC Youth Committee expresses sincere gratitude for your continuous support and active participation, which significantly contributes to the flourishing community. We would also like to extend special thanks to our dedicated Youth Committee members.
